Reasons Why the AOC can really make Joe Biden day worse

On Sunday on CNN, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was asked what seemed like a simple question. But, she refused to give a straight answer.

AOC’s non-answer comes at a particularly rough political moment for Biden. His poll numbers are as low as they’ve ever been. Inflation is as high as its been in more than 40 years. Gas prices are more than $5 a gallon. And, according to the New York Times, there are already whispers that maybe it would be best if Biden didn’t run again in 2024.

Reasons Why the AOC can really make Joe Biden’s day worse

“As the challenges facing the nation mount and fatigued base voters show low enthusiasm, Democrats in union meetings, the back rooms of Capitol Hill and party gatherings from coast to coast are quietly worrying about Mr. Biden’s leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time,” wrote the Times over the weekend.

What Biden could use right now then is a little thing called party unity. Except he’s not getting that either. AOC is perhaps the most high profile progressive in the country and her public wavering speaks to a broader discontent with liberals for Biden and how he has conducted his presidency. (AOC endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primary fight.)

AOC’s response to Bash will further fuel discussions about Biden’s weakened political position and raise further questions about whether he will — or should — run again in 2024. And that’s a losing conversation for Biden as he tries to hit the reset button on his presidency.

Here’s the exchange between the New York Democrat and CNN’s Dana Bash:

Bash: Before we go, I just want to ask about President Biden. He is saying he’s going to run again in 2024. Will you support him?

AOC: You know, if the President chooses to run again in 2024 — I mean, first of all, I’m focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority this year in 2022. So we will cross that bridge when we get to it. But I think, if the President has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes.

Bash: That’s not a yes.

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AOC: Yes, I think we should endorse when we get to it. But I believe that the President has been doing a very good job so far. And should he run again, I think that — I think it’s — we will take a look at it.

Which, well.

Here’s how AOC could have answered Bash’s question: “Yes.” Which is one word. Instead, she offered up 67 words, none of which resembled “yes” or “no.”

And, even when Bash went back to the question to give AOC a chance to clean up the potential political mess she had made with the first answer, the New York liberal chose not to — descending even deeper into vagaries like “And should he run again, I think that — I think it’s — we will take a look at it.”

“Take a look at it,” eh? I am sure the Biden team is absolutely turning cartwheels and hitting the Griddy in the White House over that answer. Not.

AOC won’t endorse Biden’s ‘24 bid right now, will ‘take a look’ after midterm elections

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday refused to say whether she’ll back President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid.

The left-wing lawmaker was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if she will support Biden — but dodged the question, saying Democrats have to get through the fall’s midterm elections first.

“First of all, I’m focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority this year in 2022,” Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the Bronx and Queens, told host Dana Bash.

“So we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she continued. “But I think if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes.”

Bash pushed back, pointing out, “That’s not a yes.”

“Yes, I think we should endorse when we get to it,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. “But I believe that the president has been doing a very good job so far. And should he run again, I think that we will take a look at it.”

The second-term congresswoman, 32, has previously warned Biden, 79, that he risks losing the support of progressive and younger party voters, and called on him to make good on his campaign promise and use executive action to wipe out millions of dollars in student debt.

“But, this is really about the collapse of support among young people, among Democratic base, feeling like they worked overtime to get this president elected and they aren’t necessarily being seen,” she said in an interview this spring.

Ocasio-Cortez’s balking at endorsing Biden comes as a report in the New York Times on Sunday said that Democrats uneasy with the president’s lagging poll numbers and the administration’s hit-or-miss response to inflation and rising gas prices have them looking beyond the president in 2024.

The progressive darling also defended her decision to back state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in her Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“I think we have seen from prior primaries throughout this year that a motivated, young, multiracial, multiclass base is exactly what the Democratic Party needs in order to win in November,” she told Bash

She brought up Greg Casar, a progressive former city council member in Austin, Texas, who won the Democratic primary in March, and Summer Lee, a state representative in Pennsylvania, who won the Democratic primary in May, as the type of candidates Democrats should be seeking out.

“When we are able to elect representatives that excite the Democratic base, that excite young people, that excite a multiclass, multiracial coalition, then that puts us in an even better position to win in November,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“I think, right now, there are a lot of voters at home that have quite a bit of anxiety about the enthusiasm right now in terms of turnout for the Democratic Party. And I think one of the best things that we can do is elect people with a proven record of being able to excite a base and turn it out,” she said on CNN.

But Bash asked her if she was “comfortable” endorsing a candidate who is running against a member of the Democratic Party leadership.

“I believe that, every single year, every single one of us as a voter has the possibility to elect a representative that best suits them,” the self-described Democratic socialist said.

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Reasons Why the AOC can really make Joe Biden day worse

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